Separator.



in. 717,971. PATENTED JAN. 6, 1903. E. coLvm SEPARATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 17, 1900.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

wane/aw /@OJUW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMERY COLVIN, OF SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

SEPARATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 717,971, dated January 6, 1903.

Application filed September 1'7, 1900. Serial No. 30,290. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMERY OoLVIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Scranton, in the county of Lackawanna and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Separators; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates generally to separators, and particularly to machines for separating coal, salt, ores, sand, and other hard and granular substances; and. it has for its object to provide a simple and durable machine adapted to separate and grade the substance being treated and to remove the dust therefrom; and it. consists of the parts and combinations of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine with the side casing thereof removed and certain parts in section. Figs. 2, 3, 4t, and 5 are detail views of a pair of the screening-wheels, showing the different positions their lifter arms or blades assume in making a three-quarter revolution; Fig. 6, aplan view ofa set of five wheels, showing their lifter arms or blades in operation or working relative to eachother. Fig. 7 is a detail edge view showing a construction by which one of the lifter arms or blades of a wheel is detachable or separable from the remaining arms or blades thereof; Fig. 8, a side elevation of Fig. 7, and Fig. 9 a similar View showing the lifter arms or blades connected.

Similar characters refer to similar parts throughout all the views.

Referring to the drawings, Arepresents the inclosing frame or casing of my machine, which may be supported by legs or in any other suitable manner.

B represents a hopper into which the coal or other material being treated is dumped or discharged by anendless apron or car-.

rier G and from whence it falls between a pair of crushing-rolls D, journaled immediately below the outlet of the hopper. From the rolls the crushed material drops through, a neck E onto a feed-wheel F, j ournaled in the lower end of the neck. The feed-wheel is divided into four equal compartments by plates G, which extend at right angles from a shaft a and are of a size to nearly fill the neck-openiug,so as to pre vent, the escape of the material therefrom otherwise than in the compartments. From the neck-opening the material escapes or is fed to an inclined chute H, the bottom of which is formed of a series of short inclined steps I, which terminate one above the other, and at the end of each of which is arranged a wheel J, similar in all respects to that just described, said wheels being connected to each other and to the feed-wheel F and operated at the same speed and in the same direction by a sprocket chain or chains K and Wheels L or in any other preferred or suitable manner. The feed-wheel serves to regulate the quantity of material fed to the chute, and the wheels J in saidchute serve to agitate and loosen up the material, so that the dust and light worthless material therein may be freed therefrom in order to permit of its being drawn away by a suction-fan, and in case the material is wet or damp such agitation also affords an opportunity for the drying of the same during its passage through the chute by a heated air-blast, as will be described.

Within the casing A at the .front of the machine a series of ducts M are formed by partitions N, within which are arranged steam coils or radiators 0, said ducts opening into the chute Himmediately below the steps I and at their other ends communicating with an air-pipe P, extending vertically from a blast-fan casingQ and terminating in the uppermost duct M. The openings 1) from the pipe P into the ducts are contracted, as shown, and. preferably curved downward to direct or deflect the air thereinto and are also provided with sliding gates or valves c,whereby the admission of air may be controlled or regulated. Instead of providing the upper or top duct with a sliding gate and a contracted entrance the end of the pipe P is fitpipe R is arranged, inclining parallel with the chute H, which leads from a suction-fan S and terminates in an opening therefor in the neck E above the feed-wheel F. The end of the tube or pipe R is contracted and is provided with a sliding gate or valve 01, whereby its communication with said neck may be cut off at any time. The tube or pipe is connected to and communicates with the chute H by means of a series of ducts e, which are preferably tapered in shape and each of which is provided with a swinging valvef, whereby the admission of air thereto is controlled. The valves may be operated or set by any desired means.

The operation of that part of the machine so far as described is as follows: The coal or other material, having been crushed or reduced by the rolls D to the size desired, drops through the neck E onto the feed-wheel F, which feeds it to the chute H. From the feedwheel it first falls on the first inclined step I and slides down the same onto the agitatingwheel J, which receives it in its compartments and dumps or discharges it onto the next step I. It will be observed that the material is spread out as it slides off the plates forming the compartments of the wheel, so that the heated air from the ducts M may be driven therethrough to dry the same and dislodge the dust or other worthless light matter contained therein, said dust or matter being then drawn out of the chute through the ducts e by the suction fan and conveyed through pipe S to any desired point. The above operation is repeated at each step I as the material descends in the chute till it is finally discharged through the opening T onto the screening-wheels to be described. The material is discharged from the chute H onto the end set of a number of sets of wheels which I term screening-wheels. These wheels of each set are made up of lifter arms or blades projecting from a shaft at right angles and from each other at an obtuse angle and are arranged at equal distances apart around the shaft. The lifter arms or blades of each wheel are preferablyarranged in sets of three, which work in the same vertical plane or are in line with each other and travel through the same path.

In constructing the wheels I prefer to make two of the blades integral and secure the other blade thereto; but it will be understood that the blades may be made in one piece, if desired, or they may be made separate from each other and secured in any preferred way to the shaft, providing the arrangement thereon is such as is described above.

In Fig. 8 I show my preferred construction, in which figure the double blade h is shown as formed with a recess or countersink iat the junction of the blades, and in Fig. 9 I show the blade 72. as inserted in the recess or countersink. A square opening K is formed in theblades to adapt them for mounting on a shaft Z, which is formed with a squared portion to receive them. Also, as in Fig. 7, the blade 71. is shown as formed with a hub or collar m, which serves when the blades are on the shafts to space them apart the required distance, although it is obvious that they may be spaced apart by loose washers, if desired or found more convenient. A nut n is run on each end of each shaft to secure the blades firmly thereon.

In arranging the wheels on the shafts they are so located relative to each other that the corresponding arms or blades of each set of wheels all project in the same direction and the corresponding arms or blades of the different or successive sets of wheels also all project in the same direction, while the said arms or blades of the wheels of each shaft work in or pass through the spaces between the arms or blades of the wheels of the shaft or shafts adjacent thereto. (See Fig. 6.) The arms or blades are of such a length that they just escape the washers or collars between the blades of adjacent shafts during their revolution, so that the spaces between the ends of said arms or blades and the collars or washers are not sufficient to permit of the escape therethrough of any of the material being treated eXcept the veryfinest, such as dust.

With the above-described arrangement of the lifter armsor blades the application of power to the shafts, so as to actuate the wheels at the same speed, will cause the arms or blades to revolve in such manner that at no time during their revolution will the arms or blades on any shaft be uncovered by the arms or blades of the shaft or shafts adjacent thereto. Thus when the material reaches the first set of wheels (the several sets thereof being arranged in horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 1, and operated by a sprocket-chain 0 and wheels 19) it falls between sets of lifter arms or blades on the first and second sets of wheels and a portion of the sufficiently fine material escapes through the spaces between said arms or blades, while the remaining material is lifted over into the spaces between the next adjacent sets of arms or blades, (being the second and third sets,) where a like separation takes place. This operation takes place in like manner successively until the material is thoroughly screened and graded, the larger lumps or particles passing out over the sets of wheels at the discharge end of the machine.

As my invention is primarily designed for screening and grading coal into the various commercial sizes, I provide, as shown in Fig. 6, a less number of wheels toward or at the discharge end of the separating devices, so that the spaces between the lifter arms or blades carried thereby will be larger or wider to permit of the passage of the larger lumps or particles of material acted upon. Thus on reference to Fig. 6 it will be seen that the first three shafts at the left are shown as provided with eight wheels rigidly secured in place, while the two remaining shafts are each provided with five wheels only. The

number of arms or blades for each set of wheels is always in accordance with the work to be accomplished and the number of grades of material it is desired to obtain.

In Fig. 1 I show compartments 1, 2, and 3 to receive three different grades of the mate rial, the larger lumps, which will not pass through the wheels, being carried out of the machine through the chute 4. Also I may arrange the separating-wheels in series of different sizes one above the other and discharging from one to the other, if I find it more convenient so to do, instead of having one long series of wheels comprising wheels of different mesh or number of arms or blades.

In Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5 I have illustrated the different positions assumed by the arms or blades of a pair of adjacent wheels relative to each other during a single revolution. Thus starting with the blades 8, Fig. 2, of each wheel in a vertical position and imparting motion thereto, at the first quarter-revolution said arms or blades 5 will be moved to a horizontal position, as shown in Fig. 3, and the other arms or blades of course moving a corresponding distance. The next quarter-revolotion will carry the arms or bladess to a vertical position, pointing downward, Fig. 4, and the next quarter to a horizontal position, Fig. 5, pointing in the opposite direction to the direction they point at the end of the first quarter-revolution, while the fourth or last quarter-revolution returns them to the position shown in Fig. 2. Thus it will be observed that the arms or blades of one wheel are always covered or shielded by the arms or blades on the adjacent wheel or wheels and that at no time during the revolution of the wheels is a space left between the extremities of the arms or blades through which the material might escape unscreened and that the corresponding arms or blades of all the wheels point in the same direction. The result is that anymaterial fed to the wheels containing particles of a size too large to pass between the spaces between the arms or blades of the first and second sets or pairs of wheels will be lifted up and carried to the next ad- 'wheels arranged on each shaft, each of said wheels consisting of three equidistant radial lifter arms or blades projecting at right angles from the shaft, the blades of all the wheels throughout the series being of the same length, and the corresponding arms or blades of all the wheels extending in the same direction at all times during their revolution and the arms or blades of each shaft intermeshing with the arms or blades of the shafts at each side thereof and the number of wheels on the shafts being decreased toward the discharge end of the series of shafts, and means for imparting motion at the same rate of speed to all the shafts.

In testimony whereof I affix my in presence of two witnesses.

- EMERY COLVIN.

signature Witnesses:

J ENKIN LEWIs, JOHN P. BUTLER. 

